After writing Withering Path, I turned my attention to the second story for my patrons, a fantasy. While the first story had fantasy beats, I wanted to step back and focus on a different character for this tale. With that in mind, I thumbed through my array of characters and chose Thobin to explore a unique moment with him. Instead of building a storyline from nothing, I returned to Forgotten History and created a followup to that piece.
The forest pressed in around Thobin as he traced the buried object with steady fingers. The strange metallic thing beneath his touch was too clean to belong to roots or stone, and it did not yield like anything the land should have allowed. He studied it in silence, feeling the weight of something hidden just beneath the surface. Whatever rested there had not been shaped by any living craftsman, and that alone held his attention.
A group claiming the land as their territory warned him to stay away. Those shifters made it clear the last time they crossed paths that violence would greet him if he lingered. Thobin listened, but he never agreed to it. He refused to abandon something that needed to be understood.
When the metal gave, it did so without protest. The opening revealed a hollow that swallowed the forest’s light and returned nothing. No sound rose from within. Nothing stirred in the darkness. Thobin glanced once toward the trees before stepping forward, sealing himself away from them. He had no intention of leaving without understanding the secrets under the ground.
Excerpt of Sprawling Secrets
Thobin traced the seam while scanning the forest for movement. Turning, he clutched the opening’s edge, his hand radiating blue energy. With a grunt, he pulled the piece of metal, forcing the opening wider like brushing aside a branch.
“The last time we found you, we warned you not to linger inside our territory.”
Thobin’s gaze flicked to the voice, and he swallowed a curse as he shook his head. He released the metallic panel and inched toward the hole, licking his lips. “Alric, I told you I’d steer clear of your kin.”
“We promised to visit violence upon you if we crossed paths again.”
“My wish is to remain undisturbed.”
“You shouldn’t have returned!”
With a grunt, Thobin slipped through the opening, dropping into the hollow below. The sound of his landing wasn’t the familiar one of leather striking stone. Without a pause he glanced up and ran his fingers along the nearest torn edge. Both free edges warped and rippled, folding in on themselves until they sealed, robbing him of the sun, the charging shifters, and the distant forest din.
“With any luck, that’ll keep those fools busy.”
Thobin snapped, and a sphere of flame erupted from his palm, revealing metallic surfaces. He lifted the fire up as he studied his surroundings. When he found an open doorway, he inched toward it and paused.
He waited, heart pounding, but nothing challenged his entry from within. There were no voices or movement. He turned toward the sealed opening and licked his lips. He shook his head and stepped through the strange doorframe.
As the light tumbled from the fireball perched above his palm, he walked down the corridor, fading into the oppressive distance. He lifted his free hand and let his fingertips drag across the wall. “These walls exceed the expertise of any living craftsman.”
He rubbed his chin as he stepped closer to the unnaturally smooth surface. “These are built from metal. Who could’ve made this?”
He pushed off the wall and continued walking down the hallway. Each breach along the path led to another empty chamber. When he reached the end of the corridor, instead of finding a metallic panel, he discovered a rough stretch of rock. He pressed his palm against it and murmured a brief chant. A ring of energy encircled the stone.
As the light flared, the surface became as smooth as water, but what lay beneath didn’t change. Swallowing a curse, Thobin pulled his hand away from the impacted earth as he turned to retrace his steps. When he reached the first door, he stepped inside and performed a second search of the chamber. After an additional fruitless exploration, he walked to the far wall and pressed his palm against it.
Once again, a ring of light traced the surface. This time the visual under the illumination altered, highlighting a room past the unnatural barrier. Thobin’s mouth straightened to a line as he pushed his hand through the sheet of metal.
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